


Ten Years in Hiding

by Hogwarts_Riddle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Angst and Feels, Muggle Life, Muggle/Wizard Relations, Multi, new life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24684091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hogwarts_Riddle/pseuds/Hogwarts_Riddle
Summary: What if Regulus hadn't died that night in the cave? What if a last minute Ascendio had saved his life?Ten years have passed since that fateful encounter, and Regulus has been hiding in the muggle world ever since, believed to be dead by the entire wizarding world. Married to a muggle woman with two magical children of his own, he finds himself tasked with the decision of whether or not to return to his own world.
Relationships: Regulus Black/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 50





	Ten Years in Hiding

Ten years had passed since Regulus Black had left the wizarding world, faking his death and going into hiding in the muggle world. Ten whole years, and yet not a day passed by in which he didn’t remember his near-death experience. If he focused enough he could faintly feel the hands of the Inferi grabbing him, pulling him down into the dark depths. If it hadn’t been for a last minute Ascendio, he would have surely died.

Letting out a yawn, Regulus stepped into the kitchen dressed in his green bath-robe, filling a mug with coffee before taking a seat at the kitchen table. The years had been relatively good to him. At the age of twenty-eight, he was considered to be a good-looking gentleman with short, neatly-kept black hair and mysterious dark grey eyes that attracted girls wherever he went.

The only problem with his appearance was that whenever he looked in the mirror, he saw Sirius’ face staring back at him. It was to be expected, considering they were brothers, but still it haunted him at times. He often wondered what Sirius was up to. Whether he was happily living his life, or whether Sirius had been forced into taking his rightful place as the head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. The mere thought of Sirius living in Grimmauld Place filled him with guilt. After all, it was his death that had left Sirius as the only living heir.

Many times he had thought about going back, just to check up on his brother, but every time it crossed his mind, he would eventually talk himself out of it. What would he possibly say to Sirius if he were to go back? It had been ten years since he had seen him, and around fifteen years since they had been on decent speaking terms with one another. 

_“Get out of my sight! You’re no brother of mine,”_ The last thing Sirius had said to him echoed through his brain. _“You’re just another death eater, hell-bent on blood purity!”_

Regulus shook his head, vanquishing the memory. Sirius was probably better off without him anyway, living his life the way he wanted.

Just then, a young woman dressed only in a short nightgown entered the room.

“Good morning, love,” she greeted him, pressing a kiss to his cheek before sitting down at the table across from him. “You sure are up early.”

Regulus smirked at the sight of her. Even though they had been married for eight years now, there were still moments when he could hardly believe that she was actually his wife. Merlin knew he had never done anything to deserve her. With naturally wavy blonde hair that cascaded gracefully around her curvy waist and eyes as bright as a clear blue sky, it was easy to see why he thought himself lucky.

“I woke up from a nightmare and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided I may as well just get up and wait for the sun to rise.” he explained, running a hand over his tired eyes. “I’m sorry if I woke you, Serena.”

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, you didn’t. The alarm woke me up. I have to get to school early to help set up for the science fair today.”

Serena was a muggle sixth grade science teacher, a subject that Regulus had come to find fascinating. A branch of it, called Chemistry, was remarkably like Potions Class back in the wizarding world. Severus had mentioned it a few times back in their time at Hogwarts, but he had never explained exactly what it was.

The things he had learned since integrating himself into muggle culture were honestly astounding. To think that he had once believed that muggles were evil! How wrong he had been to believe what his parents said about them. He could only imagine his mother’s face if she ever found out that he was married to one.

“Now tell me about this nightmare you had. Was it about _him_ again?”

Serena knew all about _him_ as well as the existence of magic and the wizarding world. While she didn’t possess magic herself, her cousin did. Her and her cousin had been close at one point, telling each other everything, but that changed when her cousin chose to live in the wizarding world. Regulus had been forced to obliviate any and all memories of him from her mind before she went, something that he wasn’t particularly proud of, but was necessary to protect himself and his family.

He nodded, a haunted look washing over his face as he recounted his dream. “It was weird. I could hear his voice, but I couldn’t see him. There was nothing but darkness around me. He was calling to me, asking me why I wasn’t dead. He knew about my betrayal, and said that he would kill me and my family.”

Reaching out, she took his hands in hers, giving them a light squeeze. “It was just a dream, Reg. I’ve seen the mark on your arm. It’s fading, which means that the Dark Lord is no more. He can’t hurt us if he’s dead. And even if he wasn’t, how would he find you? Everyone else believes you’re dead. You haven’t had any contact with your world in years.”

“It still frightens me,” he admitted. “Deep down I know that he’s dead, but I have this feeling that he won’t stay dead… That he’ll return when the world least expects it... and when that happens, we’ll be among the first of his targets.”

Serena didn’t reply at first, and Regulus could tell that she was deep in thought.

“If you feel so strongly about it, perhaps it would be for the best to send the kids to Hogwarts when they come of age. They’re not going to be able to defend themselves if they don’t learn how to control their magic.”

As much as Regulus might like to think that he could protect his family single-handedly from the clutches of evil, he knew that he couldn’t. He might be able to protect his wife, but not his kids. They were much too wild and rambunctious to stay cooped up in the house. If Voldemort were to return, then Hogwarts would be the safest place for them.

As if to further prove the point, a couple of high pitched screams sounded, echoing through the house. A few moments later, the fire alarm roared to life.

The two leapt from their seats, making a mad dash out of the kitchen and down the hallway. The smell of smoke filled their nostrils as they got closer to the kids room, giving Regulus an idea as to what was going on. Grabbing his wand from the pocket of his robe, he thrust open the door and hurtled into the room.

The scene they found was one of chaos. The seven-year-old twins were standing on their beds, screaming their lungs out as they stared at the inflamed curtains between them.

“What is going on here!?” Selena exclaimed.

The twins ran to their parents as soon as they noticed them, hiding behind them for protection.

Pointing his wand at the quickly burning curtains, he cast a quick Aguamenti, dousing the flames in water. As soon as the flames were out, he pocketed his wand and turned to face his kids.

“It was Lyra’s fault!” exclaimed the boy, pointing an accusatory finger at his sister. “She’s the one who set the curtains on fire!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Lyra cried. “Orion stole my teddy bear and refused to give him back!”

Regulus sighed half in relief and half in frustration, raising a hand to silence the arguing children. “Orion Sirius Black, give your sister back her teddy bear right now,” he ordered.

Running over to his bed, he ducked his head underneath and pulled out the white-furred teddy bear that Lyra had gotten for their recent birthday. Begrudgingly, he handed it back to his sister, who eagerly snatched it from him, hugging it tightly to her.

“Are we in trouble?” Orion asked, staring down at his feet so as not to meet his father’s gaze.

“No, neither of you are in trouble,” Regulus relented. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again. The last thing we need is for you two to burn the house down.”

“Now, go brush your teeth and get dressed while I fix breakfast.”

“Yes, mum,” they said in unison.

With that, Regulus and Serena took their leave, waiting for a minute outside the door to make sure they didn’t start fighting again. When moments passed and all they heard was Lyra apologizing, they figured it was safe to return to the kitchen.

Orion was turning out to be a lot like the uncle for who he had gotten his middle name, while Lyra seemed to take more after him. Regulus couldn’t decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. It brought back a lot of memories of his own childhood. Especially one in which he and his brother had a similar incident.

He had gotten angry at Sirius for something, he didn’t remember what, and accidentally set the train of his mother’s dress on fire. Sirius ended up getting all the blame, as well as a slap to the face, while he just received a hug from his mother who was just happy to find that he had magic. She had always worried that one of them was going to turn out to be a squib.

Unfortunately, that was not the first nor the last time the two of them had used uncontrollable magic. And if Lyra and Orion were anything like him and his brother, there were sure to be more incidents to come.

Turning to Serena, he made a decision.

“I think you’re right. We need to start preparing the twins for Hogwarts.”

It was time that he and his family came out of hiding.


End file.
